There’s a reason Lane Kiffin has a reputation for saying exactly what he’s thinking, even when he’s not saying it directly. The Ole Miss head coach has perfected the art of the subtle callout. And his recent praise for sophomore running back Kewan Lacy reads like a masterclass in the backhanded compliment, one that’s clearly aimed at the ghost of Quinshon Judkins’ past. 

When talking about Lacy’s approach to the game and his work ethic, Lane Kiffin couldn’t help but emphasize something that stood out like a sore thumb: “He’s in here all the time, very low ego, which is refreshing at that position, and he just wants to get better.” That word “refreshing” carries a whole lot of weight when you consider who used to hold the running back position at Ole Miss. Kiffin was making a pointed comparison to the player who left for Ohio State and turned his NIL motivation into a punchline on national television.

The Shannon Sharpe interview that’s become the centerpiece of this entire narrative perfectly shows Judkins’ approach to his college-to-NFL journey. When Sharpe asked the Montgomery, Alabama native how he ended up at Ohio State instead of staying in the South, Judkins’s response was blunt, unapologetic, and absolutely dripping with confidence: “NIL.” 

That one word told you everything you needed to know about his priorities. It wasn’t about competing at the highest level or joining a championship program, well, it was, but that seemed secondary. It was about the money. Good for him. He found his way to the pros and he’s sitting with a contract of $11.4 million with Cleveland Browns.

For a player who had already put up monster numbers at Ole Miss, that casual admission felt arrogant to a lot of people. It felt like a guy who’d already figured out the college football game and was now just optimizing his financial returns. Lane Kiffin, never one to let something like that slide, filed it away.

The thing about Quinshon Judkins at Ole Miss that doesn’t always make it into the highlight reels is that he had an ego problem, and it festered. Multiple alums from that 2023 season paint a picture of a guy who was getting comfortable with the money, the fame, and the position he’d carved out for himself. 

Lane Kiffin started raving about Kewan Lacy’s 54-yard touchdown run against South Carolina. He ran the ball from his own 40-yard line, shifted a quick cut left to avoid Gamecock linebacker Shawn Murphy around the line of scrimmage at the 46, then outran the rest of the defense to the end zone.

Lacy’s rushing numbers have been solid, but it’s his approach to the game that’s clearly winning over the head coach. Lacy “just wants to get better,” according to Kiffin, and that’s a massive contrast to Judkins, who seemed more interested in figuring out how to monetize every second of his college career.

Herbstreit’s case for Kiffin staying put

The college football world has been buzzing about Lane Kiffin as the leading candidate for both the LSU and Florida head coaching jobs. But ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit threw cold water on the whole carousel talk with a perspective that challenges the conventional wisdom about chasing bigger jobs. When Herbstreit was asked to put himself in Kiffin’s shoes during an appearance on The Ryen Russillo Show on November 3, Herbstreit didn’t hesitate: “I might stay. I really might. In the world we’re in now.” 

Herbstreit’s reasoning cuts straight to the modern reality of college football. The game has changed so fundamentally that what matters most isn’t tradition or prestige anymore, it’s money and autonomy. “Ole Miss has always been kind of a second tier to Florida, Georgia, Alabama, LSU, whatever it is,” Herbstreit explained. “But man, now, what’s your budget look like? What can you afford? It’s no longer, ‘We win here. We send guys to the NFL. We’ve got tradition.’ No one cares. It’s, ‘How much you paying?'” That shift is exactly why Kiffin’s current situation is looking better by the day.